“Learning to stand in somebody else’s shoes, to see through their eyes, that’s how peace begins. And it’s up to you to make that happen. Empathy is a quality of character that can change the world.” – Barack Obama Crisis of Conscience A person watching the mainstream news media over the past couple of years could not be blamed if they thought the world was coming to a breaking point.
In many addiction recovery programs, regular physical exercise is considered to be a top line behavior. Extensive research in exercise physiology demonstrates that exercise helps alleviate stress, increases a sense of well-being, and boosts self –confidence in those who exercise regularly. In recent years, addiction treatment centers, addiction therapists, and addiction experts have included another tool in the arsenal of effective strategies in combating the stress, anxiety, and depression that
Mindfulness practices have been recognized as effective strategies in the treatment of the effects of stress, anxiety, and depression since the 1970s. Pioneered by Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn at The University of Massachusetts, mindfulness-based stress reduction techniques are now employed by clinicians across the world in the treatment of mental health, alcohol, and substance use disorders. The popularization of mindfulness practices in the Western world is due in large part to
Emotions. Some of us are ready and willing to talk about them openly, and some of us keep them to ourselves. Most of us fall somewhere in between: we’ll talk about some emotional issues with other people, but there are certain subjects that never really see the light of day. It’s different for everyone—we grow up and learn to process emotions in our own unique ways. For better or for
Over the past two years, we’ve published four articles on the role sleep plays in the lives of adolescents. One article was about sleep in a second-hand way. We talked about the impact of school start times on academic performance among teenagers in Seattle. Later start times meant more sleep, which translated into better graders for the teens. Read that article here: Delayed High School Start Times in Seattle: Positive
Radical Acceptance is a skill in Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) that helps people learn how to accept very painful events, people, or aspects of their life. It’s one of the skills found in the Distress Tolerance module of DBT. The Goal of Radical Acceptance in DBT The goal of a Radical Acceptance DBT program is to help an individual move past the most troubling parts of life and become more
Many teens withdraw from their parents during adolescence. It’s a natural part of development. Teens want to search, learn, and experience the world all on their own. Privacy and independence become of paramount importance. However, these values often clash with parents’ desires to protect their children. As a parent, you want to know what your kids are up to. At the same time, teens get annoyed at what seems to
Last December we published a post with this title: “Are New Year’s Resolutions Even Worth Making?” Our answer – even though statistically speaking, most people don’t keep their resolutions – was easy to reach: “Yes, they absolutely are.” Why? Because we work in a field where we every day, we help people rebuild their lives and create better futures. In that way, our work is based on hope, aspiration, and
There’s a funny thing about recovery: the people who define what recovery is aren’t necessarily in recovery themselves. That’s not necessarily a bad thing. If you’re a doctor, for instance, you don’t have to have an illness to be able to identify and treat it. But it is a curious thing. It’s so curious that we wanted to know if there were any definitions of recovery out there that weren’t
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a serious psychological disorder that develops in some teens after they’ve been through something traumatic. Traumas can include neglect or abuse (physical, sexual, or emotional). Family violence. A car accident, death of a loved one, or natural disasters. War. School shootings. Terrorist attacks like 9/11, or even just exposure to media coverage of traumatic events. Experiencing trauma can negatively impact all areas of a person’s
